The Pawn and the King
by Cscats
Summary: Based off the popular series Vampire Diaries: One girl stuck in a love triangle between the vampire who saved her and the irresistible, myserious brother who threatens to shake the whole world in which she lives on. Please R&R!
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: To get the record straight this story was based off of the Vampire Diaries and does not have any of the same characters in it, althought their personalities are very much alike to the book. Please don't comment saying how Damon or Stefan isn't in it because that's what I meant to happen when I wrote this story. Remember to R+R!**

**Dislaimer: I own all the characters, but the events may be owned in some way by L.J. Smith. **

Prologue

"Can't you feel it thick in your veins?" He asked. "Do you ever just think about how tasting a person would feel? Have you ever had so much power that you didn't know what to do with it all?"

She didn't want to believe it. She couldn't. It all seemed more like a dream than nothing, just another one of her far-fetched dreams. She didn't exactly mean it that night when she wished that _something, anything _would happen to her. The wind crawled up her bare skin as she shivered. The creature in front of her didn't move as he noticed her vulnerabilities.

He looked quite pleased with himself actually, as if he had been planning to explain this to her for quite a while. But now in the moonlight he looked like his true form, a denizen of the night. He was unmistakably breath taking and his skin was glimmering in the moonlight as if bouncing the moon's rays from off his skin. But he was doing nothing but posing in the moonlight as he patiently awaited her response. She just wanted to reach out and touch his skin, to sense if he was really as cold as his skin indicated. His skin looked as if he would be freezing but either he didn't notice or he was always like that. The aurora he sent out at people both compelled her and frightened her. She was fighting whether to run, which would be futile, or to just face what was coming with all the strength she could muster up.

No matter how much she tried she would never look as astounding as the creature in front of her did. No matter how many make up artists touched up her face she could never get that confident and breath-taking look that he could obtain. She took a breath in, the cold air entering her body and sending another chill down her body. And yet the man made no attempt to approach her, his eyes were just resting on her, both dominant and lusting.

She was about to walk up to him, to give up everything for his love. His mouth curled up into an appraising smirk as he held out his hand for her. She could feel her chest pound and butterflies fly around in her stomach as she felt a feeling she hadn't felt in quite some time. Acceptance. Everything around her didn't matter anymore; she melted like butter in his hands.


	2. The Secret Awakens

**  
Author's Note: To get the record straight this story was based off of the Vampire Diaries and does not have any of the same characters in it, althought their personalities are very much alike to the book. Please don't comment saying how Damon or Stefan isn't in it because that's what I meant to happen when I wrote this story. Remember to R&R!**

******Dislaimer: I own all the characters, but the events may be owned in some way by L.J. Smith. **

* * *

Theme Song: Supernatural by Chris Daughtry

Genre: Fantasy/ Romance/ Horror

Rated: T

The Pawn and the King

Chapter 1- The Secret Awakens

Becca sighed as she looked at her face in the mirror; brushing her hair ever-so-delicately so each strand was just perfect. She kept her firm grasp on her brush as she admired her light brown hair running just below her shoulders. It had been one of her friend's ideas to go for short hair this summer. And she had to admit that it was one of her friend's greater ideas, though she would never admit that to her friend. One of her Mother's hairdressers had done a great job in cutting it and keeping her hair as lively as ever. The tips of her hair were flipped inwards and her hair had tons of volume in it as well. Becca could admit to herself that her hair was probably her best feature. But that wasn't exactly what the guys at her school thought about her either. She could only imagine what went through their heads when they saw her.

She traveled to her face as gazed at herself through her green eyes. Becca could tell why some girls were afraid of her, which was all the better for her. Her eyes looked like slits on her face and she looked like the kind of stuck up snob you would expect to see on television. Becca puckered her lips as she reached for her lipstick with her right hand. She made sure to spread it on thick as she slipped on the ring that was sitting patiently on her vanity.

The ring was a beautiful ruby incrusted jewel that she remembered having since she was a baby. Becca had to admit the ring suited her well in accordance to her red shirt and dark denim pants. She could scarcely remember any day she hadn't worn the ring. It was like a tradition to wear the ring wherever she went. It never crossed her mind to think that her Mother had given it to her, so she never asked. But now that she thought about it the ring was especially red today, maybe it was just the lighting in the room. Becca could swear that the ruby turned different shades of red but she never thought much of it. Becca stood up from her vanity and took a new pride in inspecting her room.

Her room was lavishly decorated from top to bottom and her purple queen sized bed lay in the middle. Underneath was her beaded pink rug and a great tie for the whole room in general, she thought. Her desk was jammed in the corner of her room and the light from the windows showed brilliantly into the room. The blinds were swung to the side to leave more room for the light. But today Becca felt kind of strange. She glared at the light almost viciously and closed the blinds. It was going to be one of those days as so her mind declared. One of those days when everything seemed to hurt her and she felt terrible for the whole day. There was nothing to prove why this was happening to her. Becca wasn't on her period or anything and the days like this have been becoming more and more constant, as if something inside of her was killing her from the inside. She paused, pushing the thought out of her head. Don't be so irrational, she told herself.

Becca had nowhere to go in particular she told herself as she groaned and flopped onto her bed. She wasn't hungry this morning either. Something was seriously out of the ordinary, she wasn't hungry and she was in the dark. Since when has she become an emo? Hiding from the outside world without eating or having any ray of sunlight touch her. It was the first week of summer. She should be doing something, anything instead of sitting in her room feeling pity for herself.

Her Mother was probably down stairs expecting her to run down and get some breakfast. But she could care less, she felt suddenly drained. Where was the sudden confidence you were feeling a moment ago? Becca yawned and curled up on her pillow, making sure not to mess up her hair too much. She had become a master at sleeping without doing barely any damage on her hair. She could wake up with no need to brush her hair in the morning, not saying that she went to school in that condition. No, she felt it necessary to go out the normal sequences of life before appearing to make an impression on others.

She was the most popular girl in school and her status rose above anyone else that she could imagine. Everyone knew her name so she had to look fitting for the role as Prom Queen and the top of the social ladder. Becca could think nothing of the tons of people just waiting to jump to their feet to do anything that came to her mind. She used to find it fun to ask people petty requests such as sharpening her pencils and things but it turned to be quite trivial to see how much the kids appreciated being able to help.

Becca stretched her arms up against the banister of her bed and she refocused her thoughts onto something else. Her big eighteenth bash. The big one eight. The day where everything would fall into place and she will be able to get the tons of cash and fortune that her Mother had promised her. Her party was going to be in a week and she was nearly done with all the preparations.

She could only imagine it now. The huge fountain poised in front of her Mother's luxurious mansion along with the eighteen balloons tucked under the huge flower pots of her favorite flowers. The columns that rested in front of their mansion would be lavishly decorated and swung around with purple streamers. Inside the mansion there would be a huge opening where the music will be played and people can dance. Her Mother had already bought the huge stereo system that would make this all-possible and giddy excitement filled her up as she thought of it. The Kitchen table would be filled with tasty appetizers, meals, and desserts, which would be chosen with help from her by the most dedicated and talented chefs around.

But with a great party she would have to invite everyone she knew, naturally. To show everyone how great she was at planning. It would be her last party for everyone before she turned eighteen and could move anywhere she pleased. Becca was still unsure where she would move once she got her inheritance but she figured that fate would decide the rest. Just thinking about the party and her new freedom just got her thinking to what would happen in the future.

"Rebecca!" Yelled her Mother from downstairs, her voice filled with worry, "Come down! You've been up there for quite some time!"  
She rolled her eyes and looked over at the clock that showed 10:00 on its brightly illuminated screen. Becca stood up from her bed and took one last look into her vanity mirror before she stalked down the stairs.

Becca ran down the stairs, her hand gently gliding over the railing as she rushed towards the Kitchen. She squeaked to a stop in her new shoes as her Mother turned around to get a close look at her.

"Becca. Why aren't you eating?" Asked her Mother, "You look deathly thin. You have to eat something."

The girl rolled her eyes as she responded, "I'm just not hungry today Mother." She couldn't believe that her Mother would get so worked up about it. Sometimes she just didn't feel like eating, there wasn't anything wrong with it. She was just.. Content.

Her Mother shook her head and maneuvered her head over to the Kitchen table, where a fresh plate of scrambled eggs and bacon were awaiting her. "Just try to eat as much as you can." Becca could swear she heard a little hostility and disgust in her voice. She took a deep sigh in and approached the table, tucking her chair out and sitting down. She felt no hunger inside of her but took the liberty of taking a couple of nibbles of bacon. Becca could think of nothing better than to eat meat, it was just who she was.

Ever since she was twelve she had hated meat with a great intensity. But one day at her friend's barbeque she had just cracked. Her friend had coxed her into having a hamburger and she had taken it. When she had bitten into it everything she had thought she knew about meat was gone. And ever since then she had been a meat freak, no matter how full she was she could always use another piece of bacon. Becca could only imagine what her friends would think about her meat addiction. It was another one of the girl's secrets she dared not to tell anyone except her boyfriend, Joshua.

She had met Joshua at the beginning of the school year in Chemistry class and they immediately clicked. At the time though she had another boyfriend from the previous year but once Becca saw how Joshua flirted with her she dumped him as soon as she got the chance. In a world of popular people and the people who were just there you needed a boyfriend to keep high in the social ladder. And in that social ladder Becca was the ruler.

"I'm done." Announced Becca, standing up from the table. "I ate a couple of pieces of bacon. Are you happy now?"

Her Mother visibly grinded her teeth and picked up the dishes she left on the table. She looked up at her daughter who was awaiting a response from her before she stalked off to do whatever teenage girls went to do. "Yes." She replied sternly as she turned her back on Becca.

Becca had to admit she and her Mother weren't unbearably close like some families. Not the kind of close where her Mother cared what she did at every second of the day. Now that Becca thought of it her Mother never asked her what she going off to do. Which was probably for the better considering that half of the time the things she did were just last minute.

She dug inside her pocket as she walked off into the main living room, searching for her purple incrusted phone. Becca flipped her phone open and searched through her contacts list to see whom to call.

Joshua. As much as the girl liked hanging out with him he wasn't exactly somebody who she wanted around 24/7. Also he was pretty dominant over having her all to himself whenever she hanged out with him. Becca figured it was a dominant male thing and had made a mental note in the past not to go flirting with other guys until he was as far away from her as possible.

Christina. Why was she even in here? Becca scrutinized the number as she thought of the reasons why she **didn't **want her around. Christina was the lowest of the low and Becca was surprised that during school hours everyone worshipped the ground she stepped on. If it were her personal choice she would have bopped her down to last step of the popularity scale by now. The girl was a cockroach, if not worse, and she did everything in her power to be more popular than Becca. But then again, the saying ran through her head; keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

She scrolled down her phone her eyes glazing over each contact and the reasons why he or she should not hang out with her rang through her head. Becca thought she wouldn't get anywhere from looking at these and was about to shut her phone. Until her ring tone, Circus by Britney Spears, rang through the living room and she looked pleasingly down at the caller ID.

"Hey Courtney." Becca said most casually as she leaned her shoulder against her phone and examined her nails.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my house." Asked Courtney, her voice sounding a bit childish through the phone.

Becca clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth as she said, "I think I can pencil you in." She smiled to herself, knowing all too well that she had no other plans for the rest of the day.

Courtney replied, "Cool. See you soon."

Becca heard a beep indicating her friend had hung up and closed her cell phone. She stuck her cell back into her pocket and thought to herself, that's what you get if you have a social status such as mine. Becca knew from experience that every time she seeked human interaction it ended up coming to her. She looked back over to the Kitchen to see her Mother working hard to clean the dishes. Her face turned into a slight frown and she almost felt pity for her Mother for a moment. She shook her head to herself and figured, it's her job anyways.

She got to her car without any other thoughts of pity or sadness about her Mother. Becca's thoughts were mainly on predicting whether or not any other people would be at her house as well. Courtney was the kind of girl who liked to have a lot of people surrounding her at once. She could only imagine if Courtney had invited Christina as well, then she shouldn't even bother coming. A part of her wanted to call her back and ask if anybody else would be there but she shrugged off the notion and got into her red Ferrari.

The girl smiled to herself as she buckled herself into her car and admired her car's beauty. She remembered she had gotten this car for her sixteenth birthday and ever since the car had been loyal to her. It had good mileage, gas intake, and overall style. The wheel of the car felt nice and smooth under her manicured nails as she hit the car in reverse and pulled out of her mansion's long driveway. She could remember clearly how hard it had been to back out of this driveway years ago, when she first got this car. But now with a couple of years of experience she was confident she could back out of here with her eyes shut.

The drive to Courtney's wasn't exceedingly long but she found herself yawn from time to time. The drowsiness of the morning still hadn't shook off, she told herself. She looked up at the sky to notice an incoming cloud blocking up the sun. It looked almost sinister up in the sky as the surrounding area suddenly became dark. This was very unlike what the normal weather was like in the community. It was usually sunny. Most of the town was just a huge garden, thus the name for the community, Garden Oaks.

Courtney's house was remarkably smaller than Becca's but it looked quaint smooshed between two other houses. It was almost welcoming with its suburban white fences and the smell of something cooking in the Kitchen the minute you walked up to the doorway. Sometimes she would wish that her house would be more like this, more welcoming. But she knew that would never happen so she took a quiet serenity visiting Courtney.

"Becca!" Greeted Courtney, almost knocking down as she rang the doorbell.

"Hey Courtney." Replied Becca, fixing the part of her hair where Courtney had nearly jumped on. She looked in back of the girl, sensing another presence behind her. Becca tried to keep a nonchalant face as she saw Christina. "Hi Christina." She said sourly over at the girl.

Courtney didn't seem to notice the hostility between the two and took Becca by the wrist dragging her in. "Well come on in! My Mom is making some delicious cookies in the oven right now."

Christina stayed silent as she looked over Becca in a snotty way. Today the wanna-be was wearing huge purple shades (even in complete darkness), a purple shirt, black skirt, and laced stockings. She puckered up her lips as she disregarded Becca and smothered on some of her lipstick.

"Weird weather outside huh?" Asked Courtney, trying to start up conversation among them. She led the girls upstairs into her room.

"I suppose." Remarked Christina.

"Most of the time it's just sunny." Added Becca, looking out the window of Courtney's room, which gave a perfect view of her car from here.

Courtney hunched over her pillow as she crossed her legs beneath herself and said, "Well hopefully there isn't going to be a storm or anything."

"I wouldn't be too sure." Christina muttered darkly.

Becca rolled her eyes and took a seat at her friend's desk, leaving Christina to stand up. Suits her, the girl thought to herself. Becca looked around the room and noticed her invite taped to the side of Courtney's bulletin board.

"So guys about my party-" Becca began.

"Your party!" Squealed Courtney, "I wouldn't miss it for the world. You're party is going to be super fad right?"

"Of course." Replied Becca, flipping her hair for dramatic effect.

Christina looked over at Becca as she said; "I can't wait." She gave a halfhearted smile, which looked wicked under Becca's watchful eye.

"I was wondering about what kind of food we should have there." Explained Becca, "My Mom is hiring five star chefs in the community. But I figured out that we would have some snow crab and steak for the guys for main course." She tapped her chin as she looked around Courtney's room, as if looking for inspiration.

Courtney wrapped her arms around her pillow as she squeaked, "How about for dessert you have cream puffs?" She licked her lips and pushed her red curly hair back. Becca turned her attention to her friend and realized that her friend did have the appearance of a small pre-teen. Her frame was small and delicate and her shoulders squared off at a very unusual point that made her head seem bigger than it actually was. Her tan legs were sprawled out on the bed and she was wearing some really short shorts. The shorts looked great on her friend because of her amazing figure, one which Becca could only dream of ever having.

Becca smiled at her friend as she praised, "That would be great."

"Yeah." Nodded Courtney.

Becca looked over at Christina to see the girl texting on her phone. She took a breath in and wondered secretly to herself what the two had been doing before she had even got there. Christina wasn't the type of girl to get worked up over an event like she and Courtney was. The girl was pounding the keyboard almost violently as she scrunched her face up into a disapproving frown.

"What's wrong Christina?" Asked Courtney, leaning over her bed to prop herself on her elbows.

Christina suddenly looked up as she took a quick glance over at Becca before answering, "I'm dumping my boyfriend."

"Why?" Becca found herself saying. She immediately regretted saying anything at all as Christina glared at her. It wasn't a great move on her part to be so into whom Christina was dating. Suddenly she remembered Becca and found herself thinking whether or not she should dump him or not.

"I'm going to find a new one for Becca's big eighteenth bash." Explained Christina, motioning her hand over at Becca. She was the kind of girl who only went out with boys as if for a collection. Becca could never understand why the girl wanted so many guys to have gone out with her. She couldn't wait though until the day when Christina went out with all the guys in Garden Oaks and she had nobody left.

She barely noticed the set of eyes on her as Courtney said, "Are you going to get somebody new?"

Becca shook her head and threw her palm out, revealing her perfectly manicured nails as she said, "Joshua and I are still hitting it strong."

"Or have none of the guys around here been interested enough in you?" Mused Christina, a devilish smirk creeping up her face.

"Unlike you I'm actually true to my boyfriends."

Courtney suddenly sat up straight as she leaned against her knees and held her hands out between the two of them. She frowned and said, "Guys. We're all friends here. Maybe Becca is just really into Joshua is all."

Christina took a deep breath in a huffed, rolling her eyes and looking back down at her cell phone to angrily punch in a couple more texts. Courtney looked over feebly at Becca, her eyes begging her to forgive and forget. Becca just shrugged it off and placed her eyes back over towards the window. Her car was still sitting perfectly in the cloudy weather. Becca bit her lip as she wondered whether or not it was going to rain today. She was so stuck in her thoughts she didn't realize her lip was starting to bleed.

"Becca!" Yelled Courtney. She was standing up on her bed and pointing at her with an accusing finger.

"What did she do now?"

Becca was too busy trying to find out what was wrong with her that she didn't hear Christina's bratty remark. Her hands flew to her face as she felt her lip and a sticky substance. She almost screamed when she saw that she was bleeding. Becca was glad for once that she had been at this house so many times before and ran towards the bathroom. While everything blurred past her she could hear Christina's laughter from down the hall.

She pushed the door in back of her and looked curiously into the mirror, afraid of what she would see. In the mirror she could see herself and the blood that was pouring down her neck from her lip. Becca quickly got some toilet paper and placed it firmly on her lip. She took several deep breaths as she realized the cut or whatever had caused this was very deep.

Becca could taste the blood in her mouth but it wasn't a nauseating kind of taste, no it was far from it. She thought she was going crazy, the taste of her own blood was terrific. It was far better than any meat she had ever had. Becca could feel her hold to keep the blood from flowing dying down. She wanted to have enough of this as possible. Becca sucked her lower lip, as she tasted all the blood coming out of it. She closed her eyes as her grasp of the bloody paper failed her and it fell gently onto the floor.

Courtney was already outside the bathroom, banging on the door, "Becca! Are you alright?"

Far from it, thought Becca numbly. She placed her hands on her neck as she felt the dry blood stick to her skin. Becca suddenly opened her eyes as she felt the flow of the blood from her lips subside. She almost shook violently when she saw what condition she was in, blood all over her and eyes looking almost like the devil himself. Her eyes were pitch black; Becca shook her head, not wanting to see any of it.

"Becca?" A dull-pressured voice came from the other side of the bathroom door, "I'm sorry I laughed at you." Her voice had no sense of sincerity in it whatsoever. But Becca was too busy to notice, or actually care.

Her blood pounded through her and she licked her lips once more. Becca could taste no more blood in her mouth as she looked up at her reflection. Her eyes were no longer pitch black. Have they ever been? Her memory of the whole thing seemed to fade away, almost as quickly as it had happened. She could see however the dry blood that had rolled down her neck. She had almost shivered in guilty pleasure when she saw the blood on her neck, dried up.

"If you don't come out I'll get my Mom!" Yelled Courtney obviously worried.

Becca felt suddenly drained and felt as if she had things left to do. There was an urge inside of her that told her to do something, but she couldn't think of what. She was content in staying in her own dormant silence to ponder what kind of monster she had become. But the banging on the door sure wasn't doing much to help.

"I'm fine." She managed the croak, holding onto the counter as her heart pounded inside of her. The air tasted suddenly bitter and all she wanted to do was have more of it. Her eyes slightly widened as she realized what "it" was. It was blood. Becca felt like she was going to pass out, or go on a rampage. There was anger and disgust mixed in her emotions. All she wanted to do was go home and sleep, or she assumed the consequences would be even dire.

Her hands seemed to move like a blur as she washed her hands and heard the pitter-patter of the rain outside. She massaged her neck with the water as she tried to get all the blood off. Her friends bothered her no more after her response a minute ago and seemed to have stalked off somewhere. Becca's mind came back to her as she sourly thought to herself what Christina was going to text everyone as soon as she could.

Becca looked pretty much the way she had before but she felt almost sketchy looking at herself in the mirror. Every time her eyes zoned onto her lips, which were still blood red but had thankfully stopped flowing.

"I have to go guys." Explained Becca as she made it back to Courtney's room to see her crossed over on her bed with Christina texting away.

"Already?" Courtney frowned. "Christina said sorry."

Christina looked over at Becca with a conniving smile on the corner of her lips as Becca replied, "I'm not leaving because of her."

"Then why?" Asked Christina in place of Courtney.

"I just realized I have a party planner coming over in an hour." Lied Becca. It was a real enough lie; her friends had no reason not to believe her.

Courtney frowned and stood up to hug her friend, "Well, bye. Hope you have a safe trip."

"Don't trip on the way out." Mumbled Christina, her vicious eyes returning to her cell phone to tell everyone the juicy things that happened today.

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A/N: This is the first chapter of the Pawn and the King! I hope you enjoyed it! My least favorite character already is Christina. Courtney is probably my favorite so far in the story as well. But what really matters is what you think of thr characters and the story! Remember to R&R!


	3. Damsel in Distress

****

Author's Note: To get the record straight this story was based off of the Vampire Diaries and does not have any of the same characters in it, althought their personalities are very much alike to the book. Please don't comment saying how Damon or Stefan isn't in it because that's what I meant to happen when I wrote this story. Remember to R&R!

******Dislaimer: I own all the characters, but the events may be owned in some way by L.J. Smith. **

* * *

Theme Song: Supernatural by Chris Daughtry

Genre: Fantasy/ Romance/ Horror

Rated: T

The Pawn and the King

Chapter 2- Damsel in Distress

Becca's fingers tapped on her car's wheel as she sat, her head spinning in front of Courtney's house. Courtney had set her on her way not before her Mother running into her on the way down and asking why she was suddenly leaving. She had told the same thing she had said to the others, that she had to meet a planner for her party. But ever since she had walked out of the door she had been sitting in her car. The seats were very comfortable now that she thought about it and she placed her hand on the passenger seat next to her.

She was still breathing heavily and everything seemed like a dream to her. She had also become super sensitive to everything around her, she felt like she could do anything and she could even hear significantly better. In Courtney's bedroom she could distinctively hear her and Christina's conversation about Christina's new boyfriend. Becca couldn't believe how she could hear so much while being outside the house in front of the curb. Also she didn't want to admit it but ever since the blood incident with her lip she could also hear every breath and heartbeat of everyone in the area. From her Mother who seemed to be back in the Kitchen to Courtney and Christina's whose heartbeats were very short and light because they were resting on her bed. She could hear everything around her and even the sound of running water coming from Courtney's house in the Kitchen but she couldn't even hear her own heart beat of intakes of breath. She was trying to concentrate on the noises at hand that she didn't even have to breath while she sat in her car, her body suddenly frozen in place. Becca didn't realize it but her heartbeat was barely beating and her intakes of breath had completely stopped. Yet there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it.

Becca was so in tuned with the universe and nature that she could even, if she listened really hard can hear a rabbit jumping about the grass in the bushes close to her. But the funny thing about it was, that the whole time this was happening she didn't think about how she could possibly do these kinds of feats without a hearing aide or of some form of help. No, she was still thinking about what happened back in Courtney's bathroom. The memory seemed to sweep over her mind and force her to look back even more closely to examine all the things that had went on during that time.

When her lip was bleeding she could accurately remember how loud her heartbeat sounded from her ears, threatening to rip out of her chest at some point. Everything around her seemed foreign and she could remember her constant intakes of breath and gasps of sorrow. She had knew what was going to happen, Becca had suddenly admitted to herself, it seemed as if her body had predicted it all along. She had known that she wouldn't be able to resist. All the signs had been there, her body was breaking down and giving her solid evidence that she couldn't fight it anymore. What "it" was Becca still couldn't put a finger on however. But that morning when she had just known that today wasn't going to be a good day, her mind had practically screamed that at her. And what did she do? Go off to Courtney's house and play miss damsel in distress.

Maybe this whole incident was her fault. Just because the danger hadn't been worded exactly like this in front of her mind didn't give her the right to downright ignore it. She felt as if she was contradicting herself more than ever.

Becca gripped the wheel with more purpose now and told herself that if she was ever going to calm down it would have to be in her own bed. She took her first intake of breath that seemed like minutes and realized that around her the weather that had taken a turn for the worse. It was almost hailing around her and her car as she heard each raindrop hit with an exact strength on her car. Pit, pat, pit, pat, pit, pat.

She had to get out of this hail, Becca thought for the good of her car as she backed out of her parking spot in front of Courtney's house and zoomed for home. Becca hoped to herself that Courtney's Mother didn't notice her sitting out in front of her house for so long but she assumed nobody could see her car anyways with the hail so strong. Her senses were beginning the break down as everything around her focused her mind on the sound of the hail and wondering how far home was. She could no longer hear a rabbit hopping playfully around the grass, or her friend's breathing and heartbeats. Becca felt almost relieved to have the burden off her chest, even if it was for a while. But she could also feel herself tense up as she wondered how soon the feeling was going to come to her again.

What was she going to tell her Mother when she got home? Hey Mom, I'm pretty tired because I got a bloody lip and sucked the blood out so I'm going to go to sleep now. What kind of nutty person would believe that? No, she had to keep this all a secret, for now. Until she knew exactly what was happening to her. She didn't even want to get her Mom's personal doctors on the case. Her mind was fighting what to think about the whole thing, as a nuisance or a gift of some sort.

A nuisance at the current time, huffed Becca to herself. She could barely see the road in front of her and she squinted to keep on the right side of the road. Maybe she should just stop Becca told herself. It's better safe then sorry, her Mother's voice sang in her head. But she really needed to get home; every second being away was making her antsy. There were barely any other cars on the road too as her mind declared, insisting herself to take the risk.

The forest cleared into view as Becca weaved herself through the forest's roads on the way to her house. She could only imagine what was lurking in those trees at night she shivered. Becca tried to push all thoughts out of her head and focus on the road but she couldn't find herself to do that. All she could think about was getting home and quickly. The wind outside her car was picking up and Becca could hear the wind get frightfully louder. It was almost like the further she went the worse the storm got, she suddenly realized. Maybe it wasn't a storm at all maybe it was a hurricane and she was heading straight towards it.

Thinking about hurricanes wasn't the smartest thing to think of. Becca could feel her hands tremble and the air around her get cold as she looked over at the air conditioning unit in her car. Had it been on this entire time? She reached her cold and pale hand to turn it off but at the same time she lifted her gaze on the road for one moment..

The impact was terrible, ground shattering even. The air bag went off in front of her as Becca smashed her head against the air bag. Nothing around her was broken and everything around her shook. Her car hadn't been going terribly fast down this road so the bump was a little bit more of a shock to her. Becca's eyesight felt so far off as if she was looking through only a spectator's eyes. But this was definitely real; she was lucky that only her mind felt jumbled for what seemed like a couple of minutes.

The first thing that ran through her head was her Mother, what would she think when she saw that her car had a huge bump on it? Becca knew it wasn't the best thing to think of right now but the frightful image just came to her head and she found herself thinking of her Mother's disgruntled and infuriated face. Her car was her pride and joy as all of her friends knew and if word spread that she wrecked her first car nobody would trust her. She barely even trusted herself, she realized icily.

She was shaking in her chair, stuffing her hands inside her jacket made no difference whatsoever. It felt like the wind went right through her. Becca might as well have been wearing a tank top shirt. The ice shards pelted her car as the wind swerved up dangerously around her car. Besides the rain if Becca could concentrate hard enough she could hear running coming over to her car. Maybe someone had seen me crash and came to help, Becca thought.

But suddenly her car shook and Becca felt something, or somebody land on the roof of her car. Becca began taking deep breaths and tried to crawl to the back of her vehicle, trying to hide under the seats for protection. There was no sound at all for a while until the car was crumbling around her and each step the intruder took on her car made a huge indent on the ceiling of her car. The breathing of the monster was very loud until it stood in one place on top of her car. Becca stared at the indent its feet made, praying that it would leave her be. She didn't know what had forced her to do it but she slammed her eyes shut, not wanting any of this to be real anymore.

It would have been nice for this to actually come true, this desperate wish of a seventeen-year-old girl. For what seemed like forever it was quiet outside except for the constant hailing and vicious wind. Becca started to doubt herself ever seeing something in the first place. But whenever she looked up she could still see those instilled footprints on her car.

_I'm coming for you, _a voice whispered through her head.

Becca shook her head and forced herself to stay calm, realizing sitting in a crashed car wasn't going to help anything. She took out her cell phone from her pocket with her right hand that was still shaking violently. Becca didn't care who she called it could be Christina for all she cared right now. She just needed some human contact to calm her down and tell her everything was going to be all right.

"Hello?" Asked Tiffany when Becca called her number.

Becca for a moment had no idea what to say. She kept her mouth shut and the wind wisped around her again, daring her to make a move. Becca wasn't even sure if it was safe to talk out here. Anything could be just waiting for her to make a move and blow her cover.

"Hello?" Tiffany repeated, her voice more urgent, "Becca, I know it's you. You can cut the crap." Becca could manage a small smile to think that Tiffany was still her old self, even if she wasn't. "Becca, if you don't say something I'm going to hang up."

"No." She whispered to herself, but she couldn't force to words to come out comprehensibly.

There was a sudden silence between the phone and herself until there was a loud tone dial. Tiffany had hung up.

_Stay there, _The voice inside her head was now louder. Right when the voice had spoke to her Becca could hear a loud grunt on the top of her car. She was right, the monster had been standing on her car the whole time and waiting for movement. But there was another presence out there, Becca heard herself thinking. It sounded almost like a fight was breaking out on top of her car, she could hear the noise of what sounded like men but the wind veered up right when she heard on of them speak.

The hail and wind was ruining everything for her. All she knew was that she was stuck in the car, unable to move thanks to her muscles struck with fear, and that there were two strangers battling it out on top of her car. Great. Just great. Becca felt herself getting sour for waiting for so long. Her legs were starting to ache and she could find herself thinking about how this all started.

"I found you." Grunted a young man's voice squeezing through the car door to look at the horrified girl sprawled on the back seat. "Don't worry, I'm here to help."

Becca couldn't find anything to see as she just focused on looking at the man's face. It seemed like such a long time since she had actually seen anybody. The young man had light brown, almost blond hair with a hood covering most of his hair up. His face looked concerned and rough, as if the man hadn't been getting very much sleep but looked beautiful all the same. Becca's mind was in such a panic she thought he was an angel sent from above to save her.

"I-" She was going to say more but found nothing else to say. Becca's feeling and senses started to come into play once more as she took the stranger's hand and felt everything shake around her. She moaned for a moment and felt as if she was falling. Everything went black.

* * *

"-thank you for saving my daughter." A weeping Mother exclaimed, holding onto the stranger with both of her hands.

He stiffened at her touch but relaxed again and patted her back, "It's all going to be ok." Even though in his mind he knew much more than what he was willing to tell her. "Her car crashed into a tree in the woods. I was driving and found her in her car, it's only the right thing to do to help her." He was trying as hard as he could to make it all seem like a huge coincidence, in his mind it seemed almost like he was trying _to _hard.

The Mother shook her head to herself and pulled herself off the young man, blotting her eyes with a tissue. She looked in much distress as if she had been crying for hours and it didn't look like it would cease. The man watched her with a careful eye, trying as hard as he could to comfort the woman.

_Your daughter will be all right, _The man thought.

The Mother's crying suddenly stopped as she took a deep breath in, "At least let me know your name."

The man knew she earned that much as he replied hastily, "Aden."

"Aden.." She let the words fly loosely on her tongue as sadness filled the Mother once more, "You must at least stay until my daughter awakens."

"It would be my honor." Replied Aden, taking a seat next to the girl's bed. She seemed to be sleeping so peacefully, as if she hadn't a care in the world. Aden heard the footsteps on her Mother retreating down the stairs. There was scarcely any times where he didn't hear with such precision. The girl rolled over on her bed, tossing and turning in her purple sheets. She seemed to be having a nightmare, a look of terror on her face.

"No, no!" She yelled, her face glued into sheer terror. Aden held out his hand to awaken her but stopped when she said, "I'm sorry! ... Blood was everywhere.." Her body made a spasm as her arms thrashed about.

_Calm down, _the man thought once more. The girl stopped moving and for a moment all that Aden could hear was the girl's silent breathing. She suddenly stifled out a yawn and pushed back on her covers.

"Are you awake?" Asked Aden, making positively sure.

Becca rubbed her eyes and had an almost startled look on her face when she saw the man look down at her. "What are doing here?" She demanded. She had spoke too soon to remember all that had happened last night. But the man just looked into her eyes and suddenly it seemed to all come back to her. The crash, her car, the rain. The footsteps, she remembered, narrowing her eyes and opening herself for further remembrance. Something had been waiting for her, some kind of monster. She furrowed up her eyebrows as she tried to think further into what had happened.

Aden laughed, "You will remember everything soon enough."

Becca looked up at the man resentfully as she said, "Were you the one who saved me?"

"In fact I was." Agreed the young man. Now that Becca had a good look at him his hair was scattered among his face in pieces and his hair looked as if it were soaked from the root. But despite that he looked almost handsome as he smiled in his current condition.

Becca looked out the window to see that the sun was back out again, as if there hadn't been a storm hours before. She assumed that it was late in the afternoon, considering she left her friend's house at about noon. Her dream came back to her as she remembered reliving the whole experience at Courtney's house again and again. Each time seemed worse than the last. Suddenly she felt very exposed in front of this stranger as she pulled the covers up around her and sank back into her bed.

Her Mother must have heard them talking because she ran up the stairs. She had no hint of anger on her face whatsoever when she gave Becca a huge hug. "Oh, Becca! I thought you were a goner!"

Oh great, her Mother had thought she was a Goner, thought Becca bitterly. That was a perfectly comforting thing to say to someone who was in the midst of dealing with this trauma. She tried to briefly smile at her Mom but it failed her as she got right down to business, "Did you see the storm Mom?"

Aden's eyebrows rose alarmingly as her Mother scrunched her face up and placed her hand on Becca's head. "No dear, it was sunny all day. You know Garden Oaks never has rain."

"You know what? It was probably that nightmare she was having." Explained Aden, looking over at Becca's Mother. "Nothing to worry about."

Becca glared at the man and saw her Mother fall right into his trap.

"Of course!" She said rationally and with a ton of relief.

She had no idea why the man who saved her would be lying about something so trivial. Of course it was hailing that's how she crashed into that tree.

Becca paused and asked, "What happened to my car?"

Her Mother looked over to Becca and said, "Your car is at the repair shop the guys said they will have it fixed up in a couple of days. The police had found your car abandoned in the forest and this nice young man called me from your cell phone to see where to drop you off at." She gave a warm glance over at Aden who nodded in acknowledgement.

Becca felt like she was caught inside a trap with a complete stranger and even her Mother saying things that made no sense to her. It seemed like a huge conspiracy at the time and she found herself cross her arms in disbelief. Her Mother barely knew this man, who knew if he was as dangerous as that creature that had attacked her car?

Aden seemed to notice her sudden change of attitude as he said, "Don't worry about her. She seems fine. You can make her some dinner and she should be ok."

Her Mother nodded and walked out of the room once more, without question. That was odd, thought Becca, usually her Mother discouraged strangers being left alone with her. But then again the huge haze in the back of Becca's mind didn't help concentrating on one subject for a particularly long amount of time.

She quickly looked over at the man and said, "You know well that it was hailing outside when you found me."

Aden grinned and said, "I didn't want to worry her."

"You might as well," Becca's voice was rising, "Because-"

"Because why?"

Becca knew this is what the man wanted, a chance to be proven right. She looked around her room slowly before she said, "Well it's better than lying."

"I'm not trying to say lying is good." Explained the young man, his intelligent eyes full of comprehension, "It's just that sometimes lying makes everything better. But most of the times that's not the case. She doesn't know what had caused that storm last night and it would be better for her not to know."

"I knew it!" Becca's eyes lit up as she immediately regretted saying anything at all. Her voice had become childish as if she were persecuting someone for an immature reason.

Aden sighed as he ran his hand through his light brown hair. He looked clouded with worry and a ton of other troubles as well. But Becca did admit that the man still looked perfect under the darkness of the room.

"What's your name?" Becca asked almost silently in the room.

"Aden."

"Aden," She began, "Do you want to come to my eighteenth birthday party?" Becca at first couldn't believe she was asking him this. It seemed unlikely that a young man who barely knew her would go to her birthday party, but it was worth a shot.

Aden looked at the girl in what looked like disbelief but he turned his gaze to the window as he stared blankly outside. Becca was pretty sure the man was going to decline; I mean why would he wait so long otherwise. He looked like he had problems of his own to deal with, she thought; I shouldn't even have bothered him about it. But she could imagine very clearly the outcome of her party if he was there. She would be the envy of all her friends and her social position would be the highest ever. Even Christina's new boyfriend couldn't compare to Aden.

She suddenly just realized what she thought and looked over the man again, was she really using him to get more popular? That hardly seemed fair to him. But then again the man had saved her from whatever was out there that night. It was the least she could do.

"I'll be there." He decided, nodding his head almost to himself. Aden stood up from his chair next to her bedside and looked over at Becca, wondering how he ever came to suddenly being invited to her birthday party.

Becca smiled at the man and said, "It's going to be next week, at this house from 12:00 to 6:00." She paused, and then figured, "There are invitations on my dresser if you can't remember."

Aden smirked almost as if laughing on an inside joke as he replied, "Oh, I don't think I'll have a problem remembering." He walked out the door before stopping and saying, "Hope you get better."

"Thanks."

* * *

A/N: This was probably the hardest chapter I had to write personally, halfly because I am no good with descriptions. I just hope that you readers understand that Becca hit a tree with her car, a monster tried to attack her, and Aden had saved her. As long as you understand those three key points I'm sure you will be fine. But hopefully I did an O.K job on the descriptions, this story is me trying to get over my fear of descriptions and a lot of words crammed into one place. You can call it a phobia really- ^_^. Anyways, remember R&R!


	4. Party Mishaps

Author's Note: To get the record straight this story was based off of the Vampire Diaries and does not have any of the same characters in it, althought their personalities are very much alike to the book. Please don't comment saying how Damon or Stefan isn't in it because that's what I meant to happen when I wrote this story. Remember to R&R!

**Dislaimer: I own all the characters, but L.J. Smith may own the events in some way. **

* * *

The Pawn and the King

Chapter 3- Party Mishaps

He had known that his brother would have something to say about it. His brother had a lot of opinions, whether they were bad or good ones. He had never been much of an open book though even with his wide opinions. Aden knew better than to expect anything from his brother. He knew more about him that anybody else did, and that in itself was about more than nothing.

His visit was short and deliberate but Aden could remember every sentence his brother had spat at him.

"You knew that I had no intention of hurting her." He had growled at first, throwing things about the room. He looked like a panther prowling around the ground looking for his prey as his angry eyes darted at Aden.

Aden had no emotion clear spread on his face, he knew better than to show emotion when his brother was there. Any emotion that was displayed on his face his brother could use back at him threefold. "I know." He said silently, although he meant quite the opposite.

"Don't lie to me." He had growled, his eyes shimmering with undisputed rage, "What did she say to you?" He demanded.

Aden memorized exactly what the girl had said to him the night before. "12:00 to 6:00 at her house, for her eighteenth birthday." How he wished he didn't have to give this information to his brother, but he had every much right of it than he did.

"You have to go by the books every time don't you?" He growled, "Just for that I should drop by her house tonight."

Aden narrowed his eyes as he said, with as much force as he could muster, "You wouldn't." He knew too well that his brother would do that but the threat behind it was all too powerful.

His brother scoffed and said, "You're not as strong as you once were, _brother_." He stalked across the room his feet pounding against the ground as mighty as hammers. "I have been merciful to you for these last few years."

"You only gain strength because of the misery you bestow onto others." Aden stated, knowing all too well what he was talking about.

His face lit up into a devious grin as he said, "Oh I know that." He paused, "But you're not going to stop me from taking her after the night of her birthday has past and it strikes midnight. Then she's up to me for the taking."

"You make it sound like you're conquering land." Aden grinned, "Those days have long passed."

His brother spat onto the ground where Aden was standing and said, "Just don't get too close to the girl. She's been mine ever since the moment I've known about her. It wasn't your right to not let me have a little fun with her."

"When it strikes midnight I will bother you no longer." It pained Aden to say those words, but they pleased his brother and he had escaped into the night.

Ever since the mysterious stranger named Aden had saved her that fateful night she had told everyone who was coming to her party that he'd be there. Becca could remember how excited Courtney had been for her and how angry Christina tried to cover up. For once in her life she thought she was going to have the perfect party bash ever.

The food was already set up in the kitchen and the stereo system was pounding loud inside the Living Room. About a hundred or more kids were going to be at her party. It already looked that way however, but more kids were going to be coming. Becca could only imagine how packed her house was going to be.

They had blocked off upstairs for several good reasons, one was because her Mother didn't want any rambunctious teenagers breaking anything expensive. So for the party her Mother had moved the expensive china upstairs and anything else she couldn't live if broken. Becca didn't expect anybody from school to break anything but she couldn't be sure.

And now that she thought about it, she didn't even recognize a few people at this party. No matter, as long as everybody was having fun and they all knew that Becca was the one supplying it. Now that she stood in the Kitchen nibbling on Cream Puffs she saw her friends walk into the door.

"Isn't this party awesome?" Asked Courtney as she smiled the second she walked into the door. "I knew Becca wouldn't disappoint us."

Christina stuck up her nose as she looked around the party, "It's ok I guess." She suddenly spotted Becca walking towards them as she asked, "Where's your boyfriend?"

"Joshua?" Becca paused, "I'm not sure where he is."

Christina suddenly shook her head and rephrased the question, "Where's your Knight in Shining Armor?"

"Oh, you mean Aden. He's not here yet." The girl could practically see Christina smirk deviously as she said that. Becca suddenly hoped that the stranger would come and everyone would believe her story. It was because of Aden that she wasn't being laughed at from all of her friends for crashing her car. Suddenly meeting a new handsome stranger seemed to balance everything out.

"Seems like all your guys are missing." Stated Christina sourly.

Becca felt like slapping the girl one but stopped short as she just scowled and sighed under her breath. It wasn't worth it getting in a fight at her own party even she knew that.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Asked Becca, placing her hands on her hips.

Christina's mouth turned into a slight smile as she said, "My boyfriend is actually here. He's over there getting me some punch." She lifted up her bony finger to point to a tall man that was pouring some punch into two cups. His back was turned to the girls so the only feature Becca could observe was his brown hair that cropped up to his neck.

Courtney pulled the two girls together in a hug as she said, "This is so exciting. I love your stereo system. Everything is just so perfect." Becca smiled; at least somebody appreciated all her hard planning.

Christina shrugged out of the hug and walked towards the Kitchen, dropping over her boyfriend's shoulder to whisper something in his ear. Becca just rolled her eyes as she looked over at Courtney who was slightly dancing to the music.

"You can go dance if you want." Said Becca, nodding towards the direction of everyone who was dancing.

"Really?" Courtney sounded surprised; "I wouldn't want to leave you on your birthday you know?"

"It's ok. Have fun." Becca gave a genuine smile over to her friend as she hopped over to other dancing kids. She didn't feel much like in the partying mood today, which was very odd for her. Ever since the episode at Courtney's house she has been eating a lot more meat and being more tired. Becca didn't know what it was; she figured she was coming down with the flu. But she hadn't told her Mother, not wanting to cancel to party and disappoint everyone.

What was she doing standing in the corner of her own party feeling sorry for herself? From this day on she was going to be an adult making her own decisions. And all of her Mother's fortune would go down to her. She didn't know how that worked but her Mother had told her that from the time she was eight. Becca tried to sway to the beat of the music and keep a smile on her face when people passed to say happy birthday. But it wasn't exactly how she wanted to feel on her eighteenth birthday bash.

"Happy birthday." Said a voice, coming up from in back of her and wrapping his arms around Becca. "You seem tired."

"Hey Josh." Greeted Becca, "I guess I am kind of tired."

"Well maybe you just need another can of Coke." Suggested Joshua, half joking and half serious. He was much taller than Becca with light blond hair and dazzling blue eyes, everybody at school wanted to be his girlfriend. And to top it off he was nice, she was lucky to get a guy like that.

"Maybe."

"Come on," Joshua coxed, "I want you to have enough energy to have your first dance with me." He pulled the girl by her hand as they dodged the crowds in the Living Room, probably gossiping.

Becca spotted Christina across the way from the punch bowl leaning against the counter and looking at her boyfriend lazily. She knew the man almost instantly and identified him as Warner. Warner was sipping his punch as he laughed at another kid's joke. Becca knew Warner pretty well, and they had once gone out at a time, but it infuriated Becca to know that Christina was going out her ex-boyfriends!

"Warner? Is that you?" Asked Becca, maneuvering out of Joshua's grasp and weaving through the people.

"Becca!" Warner lifted up his arms, his punch almost spilling to the floor, "Girl, I came to wish you a happy birthday!"

Joshua coughed next to them as he said, "Hey Warner."

"Becca." Spat Christina, "This is who I was talking about, my new boyfriend."

"We have already acquainted." Sneered Becca, looking over at Warner who was watching Christina with furrowed eyebrows. "He and I used to date? Does that ring a bell?"

Christina rolled her eyes as she said, "Becca, you honestly think I care?"

Becca scowled, as she was about to take a step forward, her mouth opening up to show her teeth. She was pulled back however by Joshua at the back of shirt. Becca closed her mouth as she looked back over at Joshua who was giving Becca a short shake of the head.

"It's your birthday." He argued, "You should be having fun."

"But you see what she said-"

Joshua looked over at Warner as he said, "Keep her in check, okay?"

Warner still seemed frazzled about this whole fight and nodded meekly, looking next to him to see that Christina was gone. Becca took a breath in as she crossed her arms and scanned the perimeter for Christina. Next time she saw her she was going to give her a piece of her mind. Joshua tensed up as he noticed her looking for the girl and stepped in front of her, standing in her eyesight.

"Becca." He snapped, "Don't worry about it. You have me now."

She was about to shake her head but stopped short. 'You have me now', how could she not believe that? Her plan had been quite simple last night; tell Joshua it was over between them, simple as that. But now everything wasn't going to plan and Aden was nowhere in sight. Why did everything she know hang in the balance of this complete stranger? Becca pushed back from Joshua's chest as she looked at him in the eyes.

Joshua almost knew immediately what was happening. "You don't mean it."

"Josh I-"

"Becca," He took a breath in, "I don't want to be a downer on your big eighteenth bash, but please can we talk about this later?"

Becca shook her head as she looked to the ground, trying to muster up enough courage to look back up at Joshua. "I- I can't. I have to do this now."

Joshua didn't look as surprise as Becca thought he would look as he nodded empathetically and assumed, "It's this Aden guy huh?"

"Wait- how did you-"

The man cut her short as he said, "It's been going around." He sighed, "Never thought I would be dumped for a complete stranger. Is he going to be here?" His voice sounded on the edge, and Becca for once had no idea what was going on in his head.

"Yes."

"I would at least like to meet him." He decided, "To make sure he is really worth it for you."

Becca gulped as she looked away guiltily and stared at her mansion's doors. He wasn't going to come anyways, right? Who knows what kind of questions Joshua was going to ask Aden. Did he already assume they were going out? Nothing in Joshua's expressions could make it seem for sure.

But suddenly she realized something. She was going to be break up with him anyways; there was no way this relationship could keep going. But the appearance of Aden had made Becca sure of this break up. There was no way they could stay the same after the huge secret she was keeping from him. She couldn't live with herself knowing that Joshua was completely honest with her and she wasn't in return. It was the only time anyways, his family was going to be going on vacation and she didn't want to cheat on him while he was gone. Becca nodded to herself, it was definitely better than never.

Joshua still looked a tad bit shaken because of the break up but he still stood tall as he looked over at Becca. "We can stay friends, right?"

"Of course." Becca smiled, Joshua has always been a good sport.

He looked down at his feet as he said almost silently; "You going to have Aden take the first dance then?"

"Josh.." Becca put her hand on his shoulder, "I'll dance with you."

Joshua smiled and looked over at the speakers and music system and tried to spot a vacant spot where they could dance. He spotted one next to the speakers and right beside Courtney who was sipping punch and talking to one of the other girls from school. He grabbed hold of Becca's hand as he dodged through the crowds, everyone wishing Becca a happy birthday.

They pushed into the empty space and Joshua grinned from ear to ear when the song ended up being Mona Lisa by The All-American Rejects. The song was fairly slowly than the others and everybody around them made adjustments to accommodate the song choice. Becca smiled up at Joshua as she released his hand and Joshua lifted up his left hand for her to take. She took his hand as Joshua pulled her in closer.

"How's your birthday going?" Whispered Josh to Becca, swaying to the beat while Becca tried to match his footsteps.

"Pretty good." Commented the girl.

Joshua laughed as he said, "You deserve the best."

How come she didn't believe that herself? Becca couldn't even understand what was happening to her. She could have an illness for all she knew that is incurable. How could that be the best? She closed her eyes as she leaned her head against Joshua's shoulder. Just remembering all that confusion and disorder made her a little wobbly and tired.

When she opened her eyes she could see Courtney at the other end of the room give her a thumbs up. Becca smiled faintly back at the girl, wondering how she should tell her they broke up. The truth was probably the best; Courtney wasn't the kind of stuck-up girl that would ignore her for breaking up with the most perfect guy in school. Courtney was probably her best friend now that Becca thought about it; she was always loyal and gave really good advice.

The song came to an end as Becca took a step away from Joshua and looked up at him, Josh had always been a couple of inches taller than she. Josh smiled at the girl as he ran his hands through his hair and looked around the party, as if trying to spot out someone.

"Can you please act like your not going to beat the crap out of him?" Asked Becca, half jokingly as she rolled her eyes.

"Please," Joshua grinned, "I have people to do that."

Well at least Joshua is his same self, thought Becca to herself. She walked through the dancing crowds as she walked near the staircase, standing on the first stair as she looked around the party for herself. Everyone looked like they were having a fairly fun time at her party. Her Mother was visible from inside the Kitchen placing the already prepared Snow Crab and Steak onto the table. Everybody seemed to go straight towards it as they piled mountains of the food onto their plates. Her Mother had done a good job of planning, she thought.

She could feel someone watching her as she turned around and saw Tiffany, holding a plate with a single cream puff on it. Tiffany was wearing designer clothes as she moved her bracelet the other way. Ever since the day of the car crash Tiffany assumed what had happened and had been apologizing ever since. She had told her that if there was anything she needed to tell her.

"Hey Bex." Greeted Tiffany, smiling. One of Rebecca's nicknames not including Becca was Bex, although Tiffany was the only who called her that. "I totally love these cream puffs. You look starving, so I decided to get you one." She slid the plate of cream puffs swiftly into one of Becca's hands.

"Thanks." Replied Becca. Her stomach growled as she frowned. A minute ago she had just drank some punch and before the party she had a steak. Whatever she ate seemed to go unappreciated by her stomach. To tell the truth Becca had an unnerving hunger ever since the day at Courtney's house. It felt like it was building up and Becca had no idea how to stop it.

"I saw you dancing with Joshua." Commented Tiffany, "You guys look totally meant for each other."

Becca closed her eyes for a moment as she said, "I broke up with him at the beginning of the party."

"You what?"

"I just need to move on." Explained the girl, "If I am going to go out there in the world then there will be no way I can keep this relationship going. Joshua seemed pretty cool with it though."

Tiffany suddenly nodded and patted Becca on the shoulder reassuringly, "Good for you. There are a ton of other hot guys out there for you." She paused, "Did you hear about Christina's new boyfriend? Warner?"

"Yeah." Becca felt oblivious to everything around her for a moment and she sighed. She was too tired to be angry right now, it didn't seem like a big deal right now though it did at the time.

She knew Tiffany was going to ask her further questions but suddenly a doorbell rang throughout the house. A couple of kids stopped dancing to look over at the door. Usually nobody rang to door if there was a party going on inside. Courtney was the closest to the door at the time as she ran towards it and opened it wide enough for everyone to see who it was.

"Aden," Courtney gasped, "You're here."

"Where's Becca?" Asked Aden, looking around the party at the people who were staring at him. He was the only one who was wearing a fancy buttoned up shirt and dark pants. Aden was also the only person at the party who was holding a gift in one arm positioned against his chest.

Courtney was so stunned to see that Aden was a real person that Becca had to run to the door to make sure he got invited in. Becca smiled over at Aden as she said, "I didn't think you would come."

"I'm a bit late though." He added, looking down at his gold incrusted watch to figure out there was only an hour left of the party.

"It's ok." Courtney had chimed.

Becca looked down at the present Aden was holding in his hand that was dressed in polka dot gift paper. Aden held the present out for Becca as she grabbed the small package.

"Oh, you can come in." Invited Becca, closing the door behind Aden.

By the time Aden entered the mansion everybody went back to what they were doing except for a couple of people. Those people being Tiffany, Christina, Courtney, and Joshua. Joshua was across the room sipping punch thoughtfully as he examined the man. Becca led Aden and the present she was holding to the Kitchen as she placed it on the counter where no food was present.

"Aden!" Her Mother gasped, "I'm so glad you could be here."

"Nice to see you again." Replied Aden.

Becca secretly wondered to herself what was inside the package. It was strange that Aden would even bother to bring a present. They hardly knew anything about each other. All she knew about him was that he was unlike anybody she had ever met before. It was the way he held himself and the fact he had saved her from certain death the night of the crash.

Christina appeared from the side of Becca as she said, "So you weren't clinically insane when you told us he existed."

Becca gave a side-glance over at Christina as she placed the package onto the table. "Why don't you go with Warner? You have done enough damage already."

Christina scowled as she turned and walked over to Aden. She leaned across the counter as she greeted, "Hey." Christina leaned her elbows against the counter as she looked at him lustily with her eyes.

Aden turned over to the girl and raised his eyebrows, as if surprised anybody was actually bothering to make conversation with him. "Hello."

"You saved Becca from the car crash huh?" She purred, "That tells a lot about a guy."

Becca frowned as she moved over next to Christina and pushed her with her hip away from Aden. Christina looked up and had a look of pure hatred on her face. She smiled and waved goodbye to the girl, turning her head back over to Aden who had witnessed this whole spectacle.

"Sorry about that." Apologized Becca, smiling as if nothing had happened.

"You don't like her?" Aden mused, raising his eyebrows.

Becca shook her head and said, "Sometimes she just gets on my nerves is all." Which was the complete truth, Christina could sometimes be tolerable.

"Want some punch?" Asked the girl, realizing she hadn't invited Aden to have any of the food at the party.

Aden shook his head and said, "No thanks."

She was about to ask Aden a question about the creature that had nearly attacked her during the car crash but suddenly Joshua appeared. Joshua was almost completely silent when he crawled up next to Becca, looking straight at Aden as if it would tell would lied beneath.

"Name's Joshua." Greeted Josh, reaching his hand out to shake Aden's hand.

Aden nodded and shook his head, "And I'm Aden."

Becca sucked in her breath as she looked over at Joshua who seemed intent on having a conversation with him. Across the Kitchen was Courtney talking away with another girl from school. She took the liberty of giving them some privacy before saying, "I'll let you guys talk a bit." Becca inched away from the two and climbed to a walking pace once Aden gave a quick nod over to her.

Courtney beamed as she said, "Aden is so cute!"

"You are so lucky Becca." Commented a girl with red curly hair from school named Kara. "Oh by the way happy birthday."

"What are you going to do after this?" Asked Courtney, "I mean you're eighteen now you can do anything you want without parental permission."

Becca nodded, "I know that."

Kara pushed her hair back as she took a sip of her punch, pausing for a moment before adding, "You could even move out of Garden Oaks if you want."

Courtney frowned at the slightest idea that Becca would move away from the community they had always lived in together and said, "Oh Becca. You wouldn't move away without me would you?"

Would Becca? Becca shook her head to herself but somehow doubted it herself; she couldn't be stuck to one place for long. Life was about change, whether it was good for you or not. "Of course not." She said half-heartedly. Her gaze rested on the Living Room as she watched the people dancing. Suddenly her heart almost burst when she saw a man who looked just like Aden leaning against the wall smile and wink at her. The man looked exactly like Aden except his hair had a deep black color to it and he had a darker aurora about him. The man looked almost bored as he held Becca's eyes with hers for a couple more moments..

"Becca! Becca!" Courtney waved her hand in front of Becca's face. "Earth to Becca, come in."

Becca shook her head and broke away from the man's look. She felt almost frazzled by the whole experience as if there were something in those eyes that had a whole other world laid beneath. "Did you see that guy?" Becca asked Courtney and Kara.

"What guy?" Asked Kara, cocking her head to the side. "You were just looking into blank space a while ago Becca."

"Actually more specifically that wall." Courtney pointed her finger to the now empty wall that showed no sign of inhabitance.

"I could swear I saw him-" She sighed, there was no way her friends were going to believe this. If Becca was going to avoid acting like a total loon she should better step off the topic. "Never mind, it must have been just me." She paused and continued, "Listen guys. I'm going to do upstairs and rest my head, I have a splintering headache all of the sudden."

Kara nodded, as she said, "No problem I get those all the time. It's about time the party ended anyways." She motioned her head to her watch, which signalized the final minutes of her party.

Now that Becca noticed it people were already leaving by the crowds. She searched the Kitchen to find Aden and Joshua to see that they haven't moved from their spot at the counter. Becca nodded goodbye to the two girls and walked over to Aden and Joshua, catching them in mid-conversation.

"-The present?" Joshua had been asking Aden, his eyebrows furrowed up.

Aden grinned and looked over at Becca before saying, "The party's over huh?" He broke off his conversation with Josh as he patiently awaited Becca's response.

Becca nodded and said, "Afraid so."

Joshua shrugged and said, "What are you going to do about it?" He hopped down from the counter as he waved goodbye to Aden and Becca, "Great seeing you guys. Bye." He disappeared through the Living Room exit as Becca picked up her present from the counter.

"You want to come upstairs?" Offered Becca as she walked off towards the stairs. Aden followed silently behind as the girl led the way to her room.

"What's this?" Asked Becca, almost as surprised as Aden seemed to be when she saw a huge bouquet of roses sprawled out on her bed. A vase was perched on her dresser and a note was attached to the roses. "Nobody should have been up here." Becca whispered to herself, approaching her bed to read the note.

On the note was a single word, Demian. Becca cocked her head to the side as she jumbled around with the note inside her hands. Usually a love letter had a bit more than just the name of who gave it to her. Aden was unusually quiet next to her as he leaned forward to pick up the note and to examine it. He held it with such daintiness that made Becca assume he thought the note was going to explode at any moment.

"Demian." Read Becca out loud for Aden to hear. "You know who that is?"

Aden paused as if trying to search his memory but shook his head slowly to himself, "I don't think I do.."

Becca propped herself on the bed as she said, "Well it's probably just a birthday present." She felt Aden's nervousness spread about the room as she announced a little too loudly, "How about we open my present from you?"

Although she had announced what she was planning to do to keep Aden's mind off the letter he still seemed distant. As if the letter was his own personal death note.

* * *

A/N: Well Becca is finally the big 18! I enjoyed writing about the party. ^_^ In this chapter you finally get to meet Joshua as well, he's a nice guy. Too bad he got dumped. Couldn't have him dragging Becca down now could I?

But don't fret! Joshua will be an active participant in this story right after he gets back from his vacation! Who knows where he is- Hawaii, Italy, France! His family is rich. I love Josh. ^_^

Anyways, remember to R&R! I have a ton of chapters on their way!


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